Bulldogs Planning European Basketball Tour

Mississippi State’s basketball team is hammering out the details of an international excursion that will take it to at least three European countries for exhibition games in August, a team spokesman confirmed this afternoon.

The Bulldogs will vist Amsterdam, Paris and a yet-to-be-determined city in Belgium. Teams are allowed to take overseas trips such as this every four years, the spokesman said.

MSU did something similar in 2006 when it played three games in two days in Canada. Playing these exhibitions in August means MSU gets some extra practice time. It will not affect the start of normal preseason drills in October. With several new faces expected to step in and contribute immediately – D.J. Gardner, Rodney Hood and Deville Smith in particular – the extra work should do some good.

This past season, MSU went “overseas,” so to speak, with trips to the Bahamas and Hawaii for in-season events. Different kind of deals there, though.